AfriGeneas Genealogy and History Forum Archive

Kentucky is a key state for coal mining in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and I am finding lots of evidence of African American miners in both the western and eastern coalfields. Some KY miners came into IL in the 1800s to break strikes, in addition to regular employment. I was on a research trip in the late fall to Louisville, KY and Ft. Wayne, IN (used the PERSI database) and found several helpful articles on mining, particularly in Webster, Hopkins, and Muhlenberg counties. One article on mining disasters in Webster county revealed black miners perishing in accidents beginning in 1909; most were in Providence.